


The Great Divide Chapter 12 - Bury me Alive

by Antigravity_Carnivore



Series: The Great Divide [12]
Category: Breaking Benjamin (Band), STARSET (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Band Fic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Gay, Gay Male Character, Homosexuality, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 05:44:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11867931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antigravity_Carnivore/pseuds/Antigravity_Carnivore
Summary: Our story continues as Dustin and Brock are taken captive by the F.E.C., leaving Thomas Bell to find a way to rescue them.





	The Great Divide Chapter 12 - Bury me Alive

THE GREAT DIVIDE CHAPTER -12- BURY ME ALIVE 

Thomas Bell walked through the burnt out wreckage of the vehicles that had been left behind by the F.E.C., his boots crunching on smoldering bits of glowing embers that littered the ground, occasionally kicking a bit of twisted metal out of the way. The confrontation had been over for hours, but parts of the fire still burned, sending billowing black clouds high into the air which could be seen for miles. Making his way around to the passenger’s side of the vehicle he had been driving, he glanced down to see Brock’s discarded laptop lying on the ground, remarkably free of major damage. After the impact, the Carnivores had pulled Brock out of his seat, causing the computer to go spiraling out and away from the wreck, sparing it from the fire. Thomas bent down and picked it up, running his hands over the cover, brushing away the dust and letting out a light chuckle of amusement. On the cover of the device, Brock had sketched out various cartoon characters, covering almost every inch of it, along with the words ‘FUCK the F.E.C.’.

Tucking the computer under his arm, Thomas slowly picked his way through the wreckage, back up to the series of rocks where he had run to after the collision. The impact had slammed his head into the windshield, knocking him unconscious for a few seconds. When he finally came to, he saw the Carnivores attention was momentarily drawn to Dustin and Brock. Seizing the opportunity, he slipped out of the driver’s seat and made a break for a nearby outcropping of rocks where he couldn’t be seen. Unfortunately, his escape was cut short, as he ran into a Carnivore who was obviously instructed to check for survivors. Catching the creature off guard, Thomas pulled a knife from his boot and jumped at it. With no time to react or move into a defensive position, he was able to drive the blade right into the throat of the beast and twist it, slicing through thick skin and bone simultaneously with a sickening crunch. The creature howled in pain, and Thomas looked around nervously, fearing that he would be discovered, which thankfully he wasn’t. As the Carnivore writhed in pain and agony trying to get hold of the blade to remove it from his protruding neck, which was spurting thick red blood. Thomas slipped behind it and gave it a quick shove with all his weight, causing the thing to lose its balance and fall head first into the burning vehicle. An acidic smell of burning chemicals and flesh filled the air around him, as it hit the ground stopped moving. Thomas turned on his feet and made his way up the side of the canyon, as fast as he could move, away from the Carnivores and hid himself in between the rocks. He watched as they took Dustin and Brock captive, throwing them roughly into the back of a prison transport, feeling completely helpless. Dustin was screaming like a mad man as they drove off, his attention drawn to a man in black who was standing in the middle of the carnage. Thomas pulse raced for a moment as he looked down to see who this man was and his eyes went wide with sudden recognition. “Benjamin!” he whispered. Leaning forward, he tried to get a better look over the rocks. Watching Ben intently as he spoke to the Carnivores, Thomas noticed that there was something not quite right. This man had a different gait than Benjamin did. He was thinner and considerably younger, and shouted brief, short commands with a slightly higher voice than Ben had. No, his wasn’t Benjamin Burnley, just someone who looked and dressed like him. As far as he knew, the real Ben was still being held prisoner by the F.E.C., and now more than ever, Thomas felt it was his duty to save him. This imposter had to be stopped. Ducking down and hiding himself well within the safety of the rocks high above, Thomas wiped the blood and dirt off his face and settled in, and waited.

He thought about Benjamin, and about their future together. Now that the thoughts in his head were starting to clear up, he started feeling the first pangs of guilt and remorse for what he had done to the man that he loved. Dustin was right; there was some part of Thomas still consciously active inside of him when he had been brainwashed, but he chose not to fight, because he knew that whatever was happening, in the end it might give him a chance to be with Benjamin again. From the moment that he had brought Dustin Bates back to the base, Thomas could feel Ben’s affections for him fading, slipping away and becoming nothing more than memories. There was just something in the way that he looked at Dustin while he was unconscious and in a coma that gave it all away. No words were needed; Thomas could see it all in Ben’s eyes. He put the visor on with full knowledge of what was going to happen. He had to do it; there was no other way to pull Benjamin back to him. The truth to what he had done was finally revealed to him, and he hated himself for it.

Thomas then thought about Lizzie, the sweet innocent girl who he had so coldly murdered. He didn’t know her, not really, not like he wanted to. To him, she was the charming, young nurse who would always give him a kind smile when he passed her in the hall, her cheeks becoming red and flushed when he would smile back at her. On late nights, when he would be tired and exhausted from going over troop and reconnaissance reports he would head back to his private quarters and catch sight of her. She would be sitting outside, in the frigid cold with a old, worn shawl wrapped around her shoulders, looking up into the sky, gazing at the stars, or writing in her journal. Dustin said that she was in love with Thomas, but chose to keep it secret. How many times had he come into the infirmary and felt her eyes on him, watching him, feeling her heart breaking because he had been taken by Ben? How could he be so cold as not to see what was right there in front of him the entire time? Could three simple words have saved her life? Why didn’t she tell him how she felt? A wave of sorrow washed over Thomas, knowing that he ended the life of this beautiful, young girl.

He leaned back against a rock, and pulled his vest tight around his chest. It would be getting dark soon. The Carnivores were preparing to leave; they had failed to find his hiding place. It would only be a little longer and they’d clear out completely, all he had to do is be patient. Trying his best to ignore the crackling sounds of the fire down below and the guttural, broken language of the Carnivores, he turned his head to the side and caught sight of one single pinkish flower growing out of the rocks. Vegetation did not normally grow on Prox, this was a rare sight indeed. Turning his back away from the wreckage down below, he let out a quiet sigh and focused on the beautiful blossom, growing freely and without care, and wished that he could find a way to remember it… and her… forever.

Now hours later, he flipped Brock’s laptop open, he was hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. He didn’t know how much damage the device received from being so crudely tossed onto the ground, and was praying that it had enough battery life left to send a signal back to the Shallow Bay. After a few anxious moments, it booted up and he breathed a sigh of relief. Opening a secure channel to the base, Thomas stopped for a moment to consider his options. Going home was one of them, but not one that he seriously considered. Ben was still out there, he just needed a way to rescue him, and the others as well. He could call for an assault team from the Bay to go in with him and recover them, rush in and save the day, however, he could still hear Dustin Bates words echo in his head, warning about cleaning up his own messes. He knew that he was right. He started all these events in motion; he would have to be the one to take care of them himself. Letting out a sigh, Thomas typed in a message to the Shallow Bay and waited for a reply. He was unsure whether or not they would even respond, he was still a new face there and even though they placed him in command based off his work in the Messengers, Dustin was sure that he put enough doubt in all of their heads that Thomas wasn’t to be completely trusted. It broke his heart to know that he was the cause of deaths of all the innocent people.

A response soon blipped across the screen and Thomas took a deep breath. They were coming for him. Supplies and a new vehicle would be dropped off in the morning. All he had to do was make it through the night in subzero temperatures. He glanced down to the wreckage far below. There was still enough heat down there which should last until morning. This was not a normal F.E.C. patrol area; the Carnivores had been called here. Who called them, he didn’t know, but he was sure that he would find out. Sliding back down the edge of the wall, Thomas gathered up some debris to throw on the smoldering fire and then settled down next to it with Brock’s laptop to wait until morning. Glancing at the screen, he noticed several personal files scattered across the desktop. He moved the cursor over to one of them and hovered over it for a moment, debating. These were not files that he had any business in accessing. They had nothing to do with the mission or the F.E.C., but he had an insatiable curiosity and had to know. Resigning himself to accepting the guilt of violating Brock’s privacy, Thomas clicked on one of the icons and a video popped up. Brock was sitting at his desk, looking tired and lacking of sleep. He sat back in his chair and looked toward the camera.

“I told myself that I would never stoop so low as to make one of those ‘if you’re watching this, then I am dead videos’ but here I am, looks like I finally gave in and made one.” He lowered his head a little bit and appeared to be searching for words. “It’s June 27th 2017… well, at least that’s the date back home. I am not sure what it is here on Prox. Tomorrow morning we’re planning on infiltrating the F.E.C. base in effort to recover potentially critical information about their motives, shut down the visor system, and rescue Benjamin.” He stopped again and smiled at the camera. “It’s also my birthday. I am pretty sure that you don’t know about it, and that’s okay. I never really liked birthday cake anyway, but ice cream, now that always gets my interest. I miss it.” Thomas smiled and shook his head. He had only just met Brock, and known him for a week, but he liked the man. Brock had an open, honest air about him, which made him a good person, something that Thomas aspired to be. He was the only one who was showing him any kindness, and that said a lot about the type of person that he was. Sighing, he returned to the video and hit play. “I am not sure what’s going to happen out there, but I wanted to make sure that you knew a few things if I don’t make it back. I know it’s been hard on you, Dustin, since you woke up here on Prox. I’ve seen much of what you’ve been going through and I completely understand why you feel certain things, and more than anything I want you to be happy. I want you to know that if you can’t find that happiness with me, then I want you to find it with Benjamin. I am willing to give you up, let you go and walk away so that you can have the life that you really deserve. A long time ago, you were ready to go with him, leaving all of us behind, but I stopped you, do you remember? I held a gun up to Ben’s head and told you that I loved you, and I needed you. I demanded your love. He let you go. I wish I could have been man enough to do the same thing. It wasn’t fair to make you make a choice like that, and it still isn’t.” On the video, Brock picked up something from the desk and held it up to the camera. It was a simple wedding ring with no adornment except for two engraved initials on it. “Today we spent a beautiful day together, you and I, but it came at a price… this was the price. I made you throw away all the feelings that you have toward Ben so that I could have you as my own. That’s… that’s not how love should be.” Brock stopped again and held the ring carefully in the palm of his hand and sighed. “Dustin. I won’t force you anymore. This is yours, if you want it. You will find it sitting on the corner of the table by the door, in plain sight when you return, I've retrieved it for you. Whether you choose to take it or not, it’s completely up to you. It’s obvious since you’re watching this, something happened out there on Prox, and I didn’t make it back. I know you, Dustin. I know that my death would weigh heavily on your shoulders, and this isn’t what I want. You need to let me go. This is my final gift to you. A life. Your life. A life where you and Ben can be happy. I give it all back to you. If you can find it in yourself to forgive me, forgive all the pain and confusion I’ve put you through, and live on for the rest of your time together with Benjamin, then my death will not have been in vain. I wish I could have come back with you, to see that nerdy smile of yours and fix your crooked bow tie, just one more time. . . ” Reaching out, Brock ended the video and the screen went black.

The fire had died down and Thomas started to shiver, still gazing at the dark screen in front of him, lost in his own thoughts for a moment. Slipping his hand into his pocket, he withdrew a ring. It was Ben’s wedding ring; he had picked it up when Dustin shoved him through the door and the table was knocked over. It was such a small thing, a trinket, really. How could it mean so much? Brock wanted Dustin to have it, as a physical symbol of his blessing for he and Benjamin to be together, but something about it didn’t feel right. Thomas turned it over several times in his hand, feeling the weight of the precious metal against his skin. He knew exactly what he was doing when he took the ring; he had seen it so many times before on Ben’s finger but never once questioned it. When he had spotted it sitting on the table, discarded and left behind, it sickened him. Ben would never willingly remove it. Whatever reasons he chose to wear it were his and his alone. A wave of suspicion hit him. Why did Dustin have the only single bit of jewelry that Ben always wore and never took off, and exactly how did he know that Ben had been taken to one of the F.E.C. bases? Something didn’t add up. He had a decision to make, now. His heart and head were pulling him in two different directions. Gazing up into the stars, he exhaled and closed his eyes, wishing that there was someplace, or some other time that he could run away to, a place filled with starlight and flowers, where you could feel the evening dew on your cheeks and wake up to the sound of the ocean waves rolling in. It was at that moment that he realized that he knew what he had to do, the path of his actions was already planned out for him, and all he had to do was take the first step down that road. He moved the cursor over the video file, right clicking and bringing up the command menu. Without another thought, he deleted the video and then quickly emptied the recycle bin. Sighing to himself, Thomas took the ring and shoved it back into his pocket, then curled up into a ball and closed his eyes, dawn would be here soon, bringing with it the end of the story. Would it have a happy ending? Even he didn’t know.

“Commander Bell, are you certain that you want to do this alone?” It was early morning, and Thomas had been awakened by the sound of vehicles making their way through the canyon. It was troops from the Shallow Bay, come to aid him. They had driven all night to get to his location, bringing with them supplies and transportation for Thomas to use to gain access to the F.E.C. base. One of the younger men, was speaking to him with a worried look on his face. “I mean I know it’s not my place to question your orders at all, sir, but this seems extremely dangerous. We can help.”

Thomas put his hand on the man’s shoulder, giving him a reassuring pat. “I’ve put too many people in danger already. This is just something I have to do on my own.” Buckling up the straps on his tactical vest, he gave the soldier a smile. “I took things away from people, and now it’s time to give them back.”

“Sir. The Shallow Bay needs you. We don’t have a leader.”

Jumping into the driver’s seat of the vehicle, Thomas started the engine and engaged his GPS device. A clear route to the F.E.C. base appeared on the screen. He gave the man one last look. “You will. Be patient. He will come back to you and be a better leader than I could ever be.” Stepping on the accelerator, Thomas sped off.

Brock slowly lifted his head and looked across the hall to the empty cell beyond. He had fallen into a fitful sleep for a few hours and awoken to find Dustin missing. A wave of regret washed over him, he felt miserable and guilty for being so confrontational with him earlier. Seeing Benjamin in the canyon as the leader of the Carnivores jolted something inside of him and more than ever, he had wanted to protect Dustin, but his head betrayed his good intentions, turning his words dark and laced with spite.

They must have come in the middle of the night to take him away, without so much as a single sound. Now he was here alone, helpless and feeling completely heartbroken. Brock wished that he could take every single hurtful word back, even if it meant suffering in silence. He had done it before, he could do it again. The door at the end of the hall slid open and two Carnivores walked in, along with a middle aged man dressed in a lab coat whose eyes were darting around nervously. Brock stood up as they approached his cell and he took a step back away from them. “Brock Richards, I have orders from the Free Energy Corporation that you are a traitor and will be promptly put to death. You were a valuable asset to us, but now with the information that you have betrayed us, there is no other choice. Your death will serve as a warning to other potential traitors.”

“Tell me, before you go ahead and kill me, who gave these orders?” Brock said calmly. Deep inside, he knew, but he had to have confirmation before he died that it was Benjamin himself who had made the call. There never had been a friendship or love between the two men, but still he had hoped that Ben could find it in himself to spare Brock, out of respect for Dustin.

The doctor brought his key card out of his pocket and held it up to the electronic sensor, causing the invisible barrier between them to drop and motioned for the Carnivores to move forward. “Commander Burnley himself, that's who ordered your death.” They grabbed Brock by the arms and forced him outside to the hall, dropping him to his knees in front of the doctor, who was pulling out a syringe full of potassium chloride. “Consider yourself lucky boy. He’s going easy on you. Most traitors he would skin alive or feed to the starving Carnivores. He must have some compassion for you to do it this way.” Brock scowled at the doctor as his knees hit the cold concrete floor with a loud thud. He gazed at the man in front of him with defiance and rage, refusing to show any sign of weakness in the last moments of his life. The doctor took notice and raised an eyebrow. “Are you not going to plead, or beg for your life like Bates did? I was really expecting some last minute groveling from you rebels.”

At the sound of his name, Brock’s head shot up. “Dustin! Where did you bastards take him? What have you done with him? Tell me where you’ve taken him so that after you’re all dead, I can go and find him.”

Shrugging, and laughing the doctor held up the syringe and pushed down the plunger, squirting out a few droplets of the chemical into the air so that it was primed and ready. He signaled and the Carnivores grabbed hold of his head and yanked it to the side harshly, exposing his neck. “I merely prepped him and made him ready as per Commander Burnley’s instructions. Don’t be jealous that he gets to live and you have to die, because he’s becoming a lab rat for the Eden Project. Let me tell you, I’ve seen some of the results of that drug being used on animals and a few human candidates, and it’s not an easy thing to watch. Trust me, what you about to go through is merciful indeed. You thought that the torment by those visors were bad, but this chemical compound, Eden… it does something terrible.”

Brock listened with interest. “What does it do? What are you sick fucks doing here?” he asked.

The doctor smiled and waved his hand in the air. “You know I can’t tell you that. There’s only so much information I can reveal, even to a dead man such as you. Now then… back to your little deadly cocktail, not so much as interesting as Eden, but still quite exciting.” He held up the needle to the light, dramatically, the thrill of an execution written all over his face. “There may be a bit of discomfort at first, as normally I’d mix this drug with a sedative to produce a more peaceful, calm death. You would simply fall asleep and then your heart would slow then stop, however, since you are a traitor and clearly don’t deserve such pity, I have decided to eliminate the sedative and go right for a straight shot of Potassium chloride, which will almost immediately cause your heart to cease. Still, all things considered, you’re lucky to die within minutes, Bates on the other hand has a world of pain coming to him, and it’s all his own fault, because the Eden project is his brainchild.”

Brock couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“The Prox Transmissions. It’s a book that we acquired which Bates wrote, which was pretty much the entire foundation of the Free Energy Corporation. In its pages, were the plans about massive global domination, mass production of biologically engineered superhumans, the brainwashing visor devices and how to travel between alternate realities. So in a way, we’re all here because of him. Quite ironic isn’t it, that he’s being done in by his own creation. Poor bastard. Oh well, at least you won’t have to worry about any of it, because your time is done.” The doctor stepped forward, bringing the syringe down to the pulsing vein in Brock’s neck, just as there was a loud thud behind him. The two Carnivores which were holding him down loosened their grip and looked over to the intruder standing behind the doctor, snarling.

“Brock! MOVE! NOW!” Thomas shouted and pulled his arm back, throwing something into the narrow corridor and then quickly ducking back outside the door, as the sound of metal clattered against the floor. Moving quickly, Brock slipped free of the Carnivores grip and threw himself into the open cell, just in time as the explosive device went off in a violent flash of light and sound. A sickening stench of burning flesh filled the air, as the three bodies ignited and crumpled to the ground. The heat from the fireball was so intense and concentrated that after it consumed all the flammable material and oxygen from the area surrounding it, it dispersed and burned itself out, leaving piles of gray ash behind where the bodies once were. Brock stepped out of the cell and looked down at the floor, surveying the neat and tidy remains of his captors astonished, as Thomas Bell walked in from the opposite end.

“Tell me you have more of those things.” Brock said.

Thomas laughed. “No sorry, that was one of the F.E.C.’s own little toys, originally designed for controlling the local wildlife, we recovered that one from a fallen Carnivore patrol.”

Brock’s eyes widened. “What kind of wildlife were they taking down with that kind of destruction?” He asked.

Bending down, Thomas started to rummage through his backpack. “Rodents.” He glanced up to see Brock’s startled reaction. “Don’t ask.” Pulling out a gun, he tossed it at Brock who took it without question. “Do you know how to use that?” Thomas asked.

Giving him a serious look, Brock tilted the gun to the side and found the power button, pushing it in. The gun immediately lit up with a bright blue glow and Brock held it out in front of him, aiming at Thomas and smiled. “I think I got this.”

“Good. You’re going to need it, if we’re going to get Benjamin back.”

Lowering his weapon, he gave Thomas a serious look. “Ben is a lost cause, he’s working for the F.E.C. now, I don’t know what they did to him, if they brainwashed him or what, but he’s the one who led the attack in the canyon.” Brock stopped speaking for a moment, as a realization hit him, and he started to raise the gun back up, aiming directly at Thomas. “The attack which you managed to escape from, unscathed, and find your way here. Very convenient.” Brock’s hand trembled slightly on the handle of the weapon, but he managed to hold it still, even with thoughts of betrayal screaming through his head. “I trusted you, Thomas!”

Thomas started to stand up, holding his backpack in front of him. “Brock calm down! That wasn’t Benjamin that was standing out there in the canyon. I don’t know who it was, but I know for certain it wasn’t him. I think that I know him a bit more intimately than you, so you will have to take my word on it. That person out there is someone posing as Ben, I don’t know why… all I know is that it wasn’t him.”

Brock didn’t move, but stood still, keeping the weapon pointed at Thomas. “I’ve listened to your words for a week now, Thomas… and you’ve not been truthful to one of them.”

Thomas snapped. “Brock, really! We don’t have time for this doubt right now. Think about it for a moment will you? Do you honestly think that Ben would be so quick to join the enemy and turn against Dustin? We both know that would never happen. He cares too much for him.” Thomas voice lowered for a moment. “Ben would die before he could raise a hand against Dustin, and nothing will change that, not me, not you, not even the F.E.C. with their fucking visors. Both Benjamin and Dustin are trapped here and the F.E.C. is doing God only knows what to them, and you want to stand here bickering with me? Maybe the time you spent with them has swayed you to their ideals, and it’s been you all along who has been the traitor, not to the F.E.C., but to the rebels. Where are your loyalties Brock? Oh that’s right, they’re with Dustin and Dustin alone, screw the rest of us, right?”

Brock lunged forward, grabbing Thomas by the collar, knocking him off balance, causing his backpack to fall down to the floor, out of his hands as he slammed his back up against the prison wall. “Don’t ever throw accusations at me, and assume you know me. You have no idea of the things that I’ve sacrificed to be here. I’ve suffered more than you ever have! Through all of it, all the pain that I’ve gone through, I have been in love with Dustin, and that won’t ever change, so don’t you EVER question where my loyalties are again.” Realizing he was letting his anger get the best of him, he let go of Thomas and took a step away. “I’ve been on your side since we were back in the Messengers base, I was the one who brought you back to life, and don’t you ever forget that.” Looking down at the floor, his eyes fell upon Thomas’s backpack where it had fallen and spotted his laptop sticking out. Slowly bending down, he picked it up and turned around to face Thomas who was attempting to straighten up his shirt. “How did you get this?”

“I found it on the ground after the Carnivores cleared out. It’s still fully operational. That’s how I was able to contact the Shallow Bay and get assistance, and bypass all the electronic locks to slip in here. I would have never made it back to the base on foot on my own. They brought me a vehicle and these weapons so that I could come and rescue you and the others, so you didn’t just save my life once Brock, you saved it twice.”

Picking up the backpack, Brock shoved the laptop into it and slung it over his shoulder. “I am keeping this.”

Thomas flashed him an uneasy smile. “Fine with me. You’re better at navigating and getting us through this base than I am. Take this as well.” Removing the small device on his wrist, Thomas tossed it to Brock. “I’ve already downloaded the blueprint for the base onto that. We should be able to follow it easily and avoid most of the patrols if we’re careful.” He looked around, stepping past the piles of ash that were the remains of the Carnivores and the doctor on the floor. “We better get moving before they realize that these two things are offline and not responding and send someone to investigate. Our time now is very limited.

Brock strapped the Comm device onto his wrist and hit a few buttons, then looked up to Thomas with a uneasy glare.

Looking up, Thomas pointed to the ceiling. “There is our way around. The ventilation system. We can move without being noticed as long as we’re quiet about it. Almost all of the rooms, with the exception of the labs have access to these vents. The latest Intel that we picked up before communications went dark said that Benjamin was being moved from the holding facility into one of the interrogation rooms. All we have to do is follow the blueprints and search each room one by one until we find him.”

Brock clicked the device on his wrist on, and waited for a few moments in silence as the pre-loaded map of the area flashed onto the screen. Glancing up from his wrist to the vent high on the wall, he let out a sigh. “I am not comfortable sneaking around like this, Thomas. If they find us up there, you know that it’s entirely possible for them to close the whole ventilation system off and flood it with gas. We’d be trapped like rats in the walls.”

Thomas walked over to stand by the wall directly underneath the vent. “We’ve already taken two of their carnivores offline, not to mention murdering one of their doctors. The Carnivores regularly report their position back to the central command, which was right about where we are standing, so if you’re okay with walking out that door and facing what’s coming for us then by all means, go for it. You’ll have to excuse me if I am not so fast to follow.”

Sighing, Brock slipped the straps of the backpack over his shoulders and joined Thomas below the vent. “This is a risky move, you know?”

“Considering what’s on the line here, for both of us, it’s a risk I am more than willing to take.” Thomas bent down and cupped his hands together, allowing Brock a foot hold to reach up and grab hold of the steel grating, giving it a sharp tug and pulling it away with minimal effort. Tossing the vent aside, Brock pulled his thin body up and into the shaft. It was dark and dirty, the circulating air filled with tiny, almost microscopic bits of unknown debris which swirled and filled the small tunnel with each movement he made. Choking back a round of coughs that invaded his throat, Brock turned around and reached down for Thomas, extending his arm and pulling him up to the small space. Thomas looked around nervously. “It’s a little bit darker in there than I imagined.”

Brock gave him a stern look. “Are you afraid of the dark?” he asked in a mocking tone.

“No, I am afraid of what’s IN the dark.” Thomas flashed an uneasy smile and pointed down into the darkness just ahead of him. “This way.”

Taking a moment to look at the map on his Comm device strapped to his wrist, Brock glanced to the direction Thomas was pointing and then back to the map. Before he could say anything, Thomas was already rapidly climbing through the steel ducts, shuffling along as fast as he could. Swearing under his breath, Brock took off after him in the darkness, bumping his head and scraping up his knees as he pulled himself through the narrow passage ways. After a few moments, he finally caught up with Thomas who was stopped at a dead end, looking through the metal grates with light streaming through them down into a room. He brought a finger up to his lips and motioned for Brock to be silent.

Shifting the weight of his backpack, Brock slid up next to Thomas and leaned forward, gazing between the grates at the massive room beyond. There were a few computer terminals here, along with individual work stations which had various parts of electronic devices scattered across them, each in a different state of assembly. Lining the walls were transparent shelves, illuminated by a bright LED lighting system from overhead,displaying rows upon rows of finished F.E.C. visors, all linked together with a intricate fiber optic network of cables. Two Carnivores guarded the door, while one man in a white coat worked alone inspecting the devices. Brock glanced at Thomas. “Why are we here? I thought you didn’t care about disabling the visor mainframe anymore.”

“We need Benjamin’s help if we’re going to get out here.” He said flatly, with his eyes transfixed on the visors on the shelf at the end of the room.

“What has that got to do with these things?”

Thomas looked at Brock with a slightly remorseful look. “Benjamin is blind because of what I did. I blinded him with my own hands. I want the chance to make things right, and we both know that he’s a damn good leader, he can help us find Dustin and get the hell out of here, but he can’t do that if he’s blind. These devices were originally intended to be for medical use, they can heal the body in record time. Brock, I know that you have some information on how to hack into their base programming, if you can do that, then I can set it back to how it is supposed to function. When we find Benjamin, we can get him on his feet and make him see again if we get our hands on one of those. If you’re thinking of an argument against this, I just want you to consider that if we don’t do this, we are taking on a huge liability leading Benjamin out of here completely blind, and also… we still don’t know where Dustin is, or what condition he is in either. Having this device would give us the upper hand. We won’t be limping out of this place, we will be running.”

Brock frowned. “I don’t like messing with F.E.C. technology. How can you be so sure that you can restore its original functions? I might not be able to get into their systems again, now that they know I’ve been working against them. My access codes are probably all wiped out.”

“You’ve got codes for all the doors to open here, practically overnight on your laptop. I know that you can get in again. We can work together on this.” The expression on his face softened. “Benjamin isn’t exactly your favorite person, I get it, but what I did to him… was wrong, and I want to make it right. I can’t do that without your help. Please. I need to atone for all the wrong that I’ve done, and I know that I can’t bring the dead back to life, but this thing... This one thing I CAN fix. Please, help me.”

Sighing, Brock shook his head. “You’ve been listening to Dustin, haven’t you?”

Thomas shifted closer to the vent and put his feet on it, giving it a kick. “Yes, and I believe every word he’s said to me to be the truth, about Ben, about himself, about… me.” The piece of metal clattered to the floor and caught the attention of the man inspecting the visors. The man working in the room immediately began to run to the door, as Thomas slid his body out through the vent and dropped down to the floor with a lightning fast pace. The man had almost made it to the exit when Thomas scrambled up behind him and grabbed hold of his head, giving it a quick twist and pulling the body back to the rear of the room, out of sight. The sound of the bones popping echoed in the room, made Brock cringe, remembering the bone splitting sound that he heard when Lizzie’s head hit the window and shattered. Pushing the thought out of his mind, he jumped down out of the vent and joined Thomas who had pulled one of the visors off the shelf and was already connecting it to the nearby computer. He spoke quietly. “We have to hurry, if the Carnivores pick up the sound of unknown voices in here, they will be drawn to us.” He gestured to the terminal. “Get to work; we have maybe 10 minutes before they perform an audio scan in this sector again.”

Brock nodded and pulled the chair out, taking a seat at the computer and setting his lap top up next to it. He connected his computer to the station terminal and his fingers began to shake nervously as the F.E.C. logo faded onto the screen. He had been in their system a hundred times, brought down firewalls, and anti virus’s over and over again, why was he so frantic about doing it this time? Something in the back of his head screamed out that this was a bad idea; that using the visors in for anything was potentially dangerous, and what he was about to do could have serious repercussions on the future that was about to unfold. It had to be done though, and he had to be the one to do it, deep down inside he knew ~what had to be done, it was finding the courage and strength to do it that was the difficult part. Loading up the program to hack the password into the F.E.C. system, Brock took a breath and started typing lines of coding, moving his fingers fast across the keyboard, not wasting a single moment. Thomas stood behind him, watching the lines of text run up the screen with anticipation. A few moments of silence passed, and then finally Brock stopped and pointed at a list of codes on the laptop screen which was several hundred pages long. “The password for the system is one of these.”

Thomas sighed. “That will take forever to input one by one, we don’t have time for that.” He gripped Brock’s shoulder and could feel him shudder, then immediately drew away, not understanding the reaction. “Try to speed it up.”

Leaning forward so that Thomas couldn’t touch him again, Brock hit a few buttons on the screen and the list of passwords started to auto-populate on the F.E.C. computer, followed by bright red letters reading ACCESS DENIED. “I only need a few minutes, the password is there, it just has to find the right one, give it time Thomas.”

He stared at the screen which was rapidly filling up with the ACCESS DENIED lines and gave Brock a worried look. “All those wrong passwords, are they going to trigger the lock out system and alert the administrator that you’re trying to get in?”

Shaking his head, Brock gave him a prideful smile. “No. The password hacking program is one of my own devising; it was created to bypass anything like that. It tricks the system into disregarding any failed attempts and only taking the one correct one. It’s something that I had been working on back home in between shows, during downtime. I am not like Dustin, who could spend hours writing, or sit out on the deck reading his scientific journals or even wandering along the beach like Ben did for hours. I guess I just needed an alternative way to relax and focusing on computer work really was it for me.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “You knew Benjamin, before Prox, that’s right. I had forgotten.” He stopped for a moment, hesitating. “What was he like, before this…if you don’t mind me asking?”

Brock leaned forward and hit the enter key a few times, wishing the program would run faster so he could avoid having this discussion with Thomas. Ever since he had been saved from the visor’s brainwashing, Thomas had clung onto Brock, simply because he was the only one showing him kindness. “Benjamin wasn’t the same person on Earth than he is here. Actually he wasn’t even human at all, he was a demon, a devil in the truest sense of the word, come to collect souls of the living.” Brock’s voice dropped even lower than it already was. “He preyed on the weak and those who had lost their way. That’s how he found Dustin. Dustin was at a low point in his life, having gone through a divorce, dropping out of college, being rejected by his family and most importantly, losing the one single thing that meant more to him than anything else, his music. Sure, he still had great ideas, but no one would listen to him. He was rejected time and time again, until Benjamin came along. I don’t know exactly what happened during that first meeting, but he came right into his life and made everything better. Soon we were playing sold out shows, touring with Ben’s band and finally starting to make something of ourselves. Everyone suspected that Dustin and Ben had some kind of deal going on, but no one spoke of it, until it was too late. All Ben wanted was Dustin’s soul, to claim it as his own and have it as a prize, but Dustin refused and fought against him.” Brock stopped for a moment and looked away from the numbers and letters spilling out over the screen, lost in his own thoughts. It took him several moments to compose himself before speaking again. “With that entire struggle, all the pain and agony he was going through, something happened to him, to both of them. The irresistible desire to posses Dustin’s soul had turned into love. Benjamin fell for him, and in turn Dustin was unable to resist Ben as well, and for this, they both loved and hated one another. Ben was no longer this cold, heartless demon but the exact opposite, he became Dustin’s guardian angel, and in the end, he sacrificed himself to save Dustin.” Turning his chair slightly. Brock faced the monitor again. “I think being sent here to Prox as a mortal, with a human body, thoughts and emotions was fate’s way of punishing him, for all the lives he took as a demon. Poetic justice you could say.”

Thomas looked at Brock, his eyes soft and fearful. “Brock tell me the truth, when we get Ben, and Dustin back… do you think that things can go back to the way that they were?”

Brock met Thomas’s gaze and slowly shook his head. He knew that the ordeal Thomas was going through had to be a terrible one. His emotions and feelings were all scrambled by the visor and he was slowly starting to feel things again, a little at a time, becoming sympathetic, compassionate and caring. Only now was not a good time. He had to keep him back on track and keep his mind focused. “It depends on what you mean by ‘the way things were’.” Brock glanced back down at the monitor yet again, it was still cycling through the random list of passwords, and there were not successful matches, he was beginning to get worried. “Thomas, you have to understand that Benjamin and Dustin have a long history together…” Brock could feel his bottom lip start to quiver as he spoke and a gaping hole form in the pit of his stomach. “…they have been through so much; it’s going to be incredibly hard for them to be apart after this. I believe that they do love one another.”

“Is that why was so easy for you to give up Dustin, and let him go to Ben?”

With wide eyes, Brock glared at Thomas who was now pacing halfway across the room. “How do you know I was giving up Dustin, Thomas?” 

Thomas started to speak, but he was interrupted by a soft thud from outside the room. Brock rose to his feet, and looked to the glass door, just in time to see the two bodies of the Carnivores falling down to the floor in slow motion. He motioned for Thomas to move away, as the doors opened and a short figure stepped inside clutching a small hand held device that was crackling with a eerie blue energy, that she had used to disable the Carnivores. Pulling off her hood, she glanced around the room at both men standing in front of her with a unamused expression. The woman had long, dark curly hair that cascaded down her back like a waterfall, each curl perfect and precisely kept tied back out of her face with a silver hair tie with a shiny “S” etched on it. A long black coat hugged her body, tightly cinched around her waist with a corset made with leather stitching. It was short in the front, revealing shiny black leggings and thick, heavy black combat boots, but long in the back, giving her short frame a unique hourglass figure. Her eyes went toward Thomas, and stayed there, gazing at him in what seemed to be disbelief.

“Who are you?” Brock answered, his hand going to the gun at his side and resting there.

Still keeping her eyes on Thomas, not even bothering to acknowledge Brock, she spoke very quietly. “My name… my human given name is Selene, but it has been many, many years since anyone has ever used it. Here on Prox, I’ve been branded the Antigravity Carnivore.”

“Are you with the F.E.C.?” Thomas asked, curiously.

“I was, but no longer. They stole something from me, and I came here to get it back, but sad to say I can see that it’s no longer here, I was hoping it would be in this lab with the Ocular device programming consoles. Damn, it must have been moved once the Eden Project was initiated. I heard rumors it had started, so I hoped I could make it here in time. I guess I was wrong, I will have to locate the other bases and continue my search there. ” 

Brock took a step away from the computer. “What is the Eden project?”

She shook her head and made her way over to where Brock was sitting at the console, glancing at the terminal he was working at. “Hmm? Eden Project? I have no idea. All I know is that Burnley’s in charge of it, and he’s fucking insane, so whatever it is, it can’t be good.” Pointing at the computer, she looked over to Brock. “What are you doing with this?”

“Wait.. what? Burnley? As in Benjamin Burnley?” Thomas shouted.

Selene took over Brock’s seat and disconnected his laptop, pulling out the cables harshly and tossing them aside. Error messages popped up all over the screen, and Brock gave her a stern look, but held his ground, unsure what to do. “If you’re trying to get into the mainframe, that’s not the way to do it. Here, let me help you.” Resting her hands on the keys, she started typing in various bits of coding that would bypass the security system completely.

Thomas came over to her side. “Benjamin Burnley, you’re talking about him right? It can’t be! If saw him I would know him anywhere; this couldn’t be him, he is different than the Ben that I know.”

She didn’t bother looking up from the keyboard. “Yeah I guess that’s his real name, Benjamin, but everyone calls him Burnley here. He’s the leader here and a real bad ass from what I’ve heard. They said that the F.E.C. found a way to travel through dimensions and time, and take him from his father forcibly as a child and bring him to Prox where they’ve been grooming him to be the perfect cold hearted soldier. He ended up murdering them all, every single one of the F.E.C. people that were responsible for taking him from his family, and now he has control over this base, as well as a few others.” Selene shrugged, hit the enter key and the welcome screen popped up on the monitor. “Listen, I don’t know how you got in here, and I don’t care. I also don’t care what kind of sabotage you are planning. It doesn’t involve me and that’s fine, however, if I were you two, I’d hurry and do whatever it is that you are up to and then get the hell out of here. I have a feeling that if the Eden projects kicks into high gear, this base won’t be safe for anyone.”

Brock glanced over at Thomas, his eyes were glazed over and unfocused. He could tell that Thomas was no longer paying attention to the pressing matters at hand. “Selene, do you know if there are any prisoners kept here under high security?”

She shrugged. “The Carnivore patrols bring in prisoners from the scattered rebel camps all the time. I don’t pay much attention to who they are bringing in, sorry.” Selene’s eyes were on the door, it was obvious that she had exhausted her time dealing with the two men and wanted to leave, but there was something about Thomas that kept her in that room. “If you’re looking for a high profile prisoner, someone of importance, then I’d suggest that you start with the isolation quarters on the South side of the base here. That is where they take people that they think may have information to share with them. After spending some time there, if given any time at all, they are then taken to the labs to have that info extracted. I’d start there if I were you, but be warned, I’ve heard that Burnley takes a keen interest in the experimenting that’s going on there and has been known to do some of it himself. Sick fuck.”

“Benjamin’s son…he can’t have a son... ” Thomas stood, completely shocked, all color fading away from his face. “How is this even possible?” He muttered, trying to wrap his head around this new information. “There’s no way… no..”

Selene stepped away from the terminal and let Brock slide back down into his seat; he brought up the visor command menu on the computer as she walked toward the door, Thomas hot at her heels following behind. “Wait!” She turned around and faced him, pulling the hood up over her head. “You can't just go. We have friends here, they are in danger, can’t you stay and help us?” Much to his surprise, she reached out and brought her gloved hand up to his face. Instinctively, Thomas flinched and stepped back, but she reached out anyway and with a reassuring smile, placed her hand on Thomas's cheek and softly caressed it. Thomas froze in place, his heart beating frantically, and his eyes focused on her. “Do I know you?” he asked.

Brock looked up from the computer to Thomas and Selene standing at the doorway, face to face. It took a moment or two, but then he saw it and he put his hand over his mouth, not saying a word.

Selene smiled at Thomas, and then pulled her hand away, wiping a small tear out of the corner of her eye before it could even form. “Maybe you did a long time ago, but not anymore. How long has it been? I can't even remember. Time moves so slowly here on Prox.” Withdrawing her hand, he moved towards the door and stepped outside. Turning around, she looked at Thomas once more. “That’s one of the things that the F.E.C. does best. They turn people against one another. Friends, lovers, families... They won't stop, not unless people like us stand against them. Never stop fighting Thomas. Stand up for what you believe in and don’t ever back down. You are capable of great things. I know this.” Flashing him a smile, she headed out the door and paused to look at the Carnivores which were collapsed on the floor. “Get your friends and get out, as soon as you can. The Eden Project will begin soon. Goodbye Thomas.” Without another word, she turned and left, sprinting down the empty hallway and disappearing around a corner. Thomas knew better than to follow her, they were running out of time. Instead, he walked over to the doorway and stared at the darkness beyond in the direction that the woman had run off to and touched the place on his cheek where her fingers had been. He had felt that touch once before, briefly but he couldn't recall where from.

He whispered. “She knew my name.”

“Thomas, come over here.” Brock said in a low tone. “There is something that you need to see.” Doing as Brock requested, Thomas made his way back over to the terminal and glanced down at the monitor before him with wide eyes. The command menu for the visor he had taken off the shelf and connected to the console was up and running, a string of commands flashing over the screen, running lines of code and waiting for the next input. Brock had gotten it operational with the codes that Selene had entered into the system. Everything was up and operation, functioning properly. All he had to do was sit down and reconfigure the visor back to it's original setting to be used for a healing tool and he could save Benjamin's eyesight. Finally, he could make things right. Thomas's eyes shifted from the command prompt to another window on the opposite side of the screen that she had opened. Displayed on it, in grainy black and white color was an image, captured with a sub-par medical camera; a young woman with beautiful, curly black hair that framed her pale white face and piercing eyes holding a baby, only a few days old in her arms. The child had thin curls of hair exactly like his mother framing his cherub like face as he looked up to her with innocence and trust. Attached to one of his arms was a medical I.D. Bracelet with a bar-code printed on it, along with the F.E.C. Logo. Scrawled across the bottom of the plastic band a name was printed, which read: Bell, Thomas. Trembling, Thomas looked at Brock questioningly.

“She knew your name Thomas, because Selene is your mother.”

Turning away from Brock and the computer, Thomas bolted for the door in an attempt to run after the woman who just walked out, but Brock was on his feet in a second, grabbing Thomas by the wrist and holding him back. “What are you doing!? Let me go! I have to go after her!” he shouted.

Taking a breath, Brock held Thomas in place, his grip firm and unrelenting. “Thomas, you have to make a choice here, you said it yourself, and we’re running out of time. She warned us that we're in danger. Do you really want to chase after someone that you never really knew, or stay here and helping me to save Dustin and Ben? Their lives are in our hands! Are you really prepared to walk away from them, chasing a ghost and leaving them behind when they need you the most?” He pointed to the flashing computer screen with the visor coding running on it that he had started to work on. “You wanted to do this, so you need to follow through with it, you can’t just walk away now, I can’t do it on my own.”

Looking at the door, his eyes welling up with tears, Thomas sobbed. “You don't know what it's like, living every day of your life under the eyes of the F.E.C., never being held or touched by someone that you love. I need to talk to her; I want to know how she could walk away and leave me to those animals! I can’t deal with all this rejection anymore, I am just… done.” He slipped out of Brock's firm hold and sank down to the floor; something inside of him was breaking. Brock watched him helplessly, he knew this was going to eventually happen, he just wished it wasn’t until they escaped the base. They had to get the visor reformatted and get to Ben as soon as possible. Thomas’s fit now could be a matter of life and death, but he knew that he had to deal with the situation as gently as he could. “I want to know why she left me. Benjamin, Lizzie, and now my own mother... I WANT TO KNOW WHY THEY ALL LEFT ME! Am I truly a terrible person deep inside that can't be saved? Is my life worth nothing? It must be, because I feel so empty inside. I want it to end. I want everything to end.” He waved his arm at Brock trying to push him away. “Just leave me alone and get out of here. I don’t deserve your help. Go rescue Dustin and Benjamin. Be the hero. Forget about me.”

Brock knelt down next to Thomas, not saying a word and gently wrapped his arms around the man, feeling his body trembling and shaking. He closed his eyes and remembered holding Dustin this way, a long time ago after Benjamin died. It seemed like a lifetime away. Taking a breath, he spoke gently to the young man in his arms. “You're wrong, Thomas. They didn't all leave you. One stayed behind, Lizzie. She had the chance to escape with the others and she made a choice to go and find you. She had faith in you that you are a good man, a kind man, a caring man who could one day bring peace to Prox and an end to the F.E.C. Even with her dying breath, she loved you and refused to leave your side. I held her in my arms and watched as she took the last bit of strength in her broken body and reached out for you, hoping that she could give you the remaining moments of her life to save yours. She loved you more than you know; I saw it in her eyes. And Benjamin... he never left your side either, Thomas. He needed you as much as you needed him. What I saw on those surveillance cameras was a man who was torn apart and broken inside from losing the one that he loved, slowly fading away and killing himself by drowning in sorrow and grief. Then you came along and saved him.”

Thomas relaxed a bit, wiping his tears away and Brock relaxed his grip around his body. “I... did?” he asked.

“Everyone has had some bad things happen to them in their lives, Benjamin is no exception. He tries his best to hide it; pretend that it doesn't matter, but deep down inside there is a ton of betrayal and broken promises. It’s piled up so deep within his heart that I honestly wonder how he can breathe through it all. It must be quite suffocating. You were there when he needed it the most, when the flood gates inside flew open and he couldn't bear the burden of all this pain, you showed up and took it all away. You made him believe in love again.”

Lowering his head, Thomas let his dark curls fall in front of his face. “He doesn't love me anymore, he has Dustin. ”

“Did he tell you that?” Brock asked, gazing at him curiously.

“No. I.. I..” Thomas stumbled over the words that eluded him, not wanting to admit what he had done with the visor. “He was gone before we ever spoke about it.”

Slowly rising from the floor, Brock stood up and offered Thomas his hand. “Then don't give up. You heard Selene. She told you to stand up and fight for what you believe in. I know that the visor scrambled your brain and left behind some damage, but you can overcome it. If you truly love him, then let's go find him, and then you can ask him face to face. She believes in you, and now it's time for you to believe in yourself, Thomas. Stand up and be the leader of the Shallow Bay.”

Thomas took Brock’s hand, shaking slightly and pulled himself up, taking a moment to straighten out his disheveled clothing and return to the computer terminal, casually sitting down in Brock’s seat. Closing the window that was still displayed the photograph on the screen, he clicked on the visor input cursor and started typing. The device sitting next to the computer started to pulse, showing transfer of data. Drawing in a deep breath, Thomas started to reverse the programming, occasionally glancing up to see Brock sitting on one of the nearby desks, cross-legged with his laptop open, brooding at the screen. “Hey Brock?”

“Hmmm?”

Resting his fingers on the keys for a moment, Thomas stopped typing, staring that the visor which had now began to glow a faint blue. “What are we going to do when all of this is over?”

Looking up, Brock gave Thomas a reassuring smile. “This thing that we got swept away in is bigger than any of us, and I can’t even pretend to know how it’s going to end, but I do know that when it’s over, things will never be the same with any of us. All we can do is hope for the best, and pray that everyone makes it out, so that we can go back home and return to protecting the ones that we love.”

“Protecting the ones that we love…” Thomas repeated Brock’s words. He glanced down at the screen that was programming the visor, lost in thought for a moment. “You’re right, Brock.” He hit a few keys and then disconnected the device from the computer. Holding the visor up and examined it, proud of his work. “Finished. I’ve reprogrammed it and defaulted it back to the original mode, as well as disable any up linking to the F.E.C. servers.”

Shoving his laptop back in his backpack, Brock came over and took it from him, gazing at the beautiful blue glow emanating from the thin LED screen. “How does it activate?”

“Basically the same process as before. The device is attached to the patient and it runs a full body scan to check for any damage or abnormal physical functions and if it finds any malfunctions, it triggers the brain to repair by sending it electronic impulses while the person is asleep. There is no pain involved at all; the body heals itself from the inside out. Unfortunately, there are two small drawbacks. One is time. The device needs time to perform a full scan on the body and then do repairs without being removed or disturbed. If this process is interrupted, the results could be disastrous.” A look of guilt washed over Thomas face for a moment. “So we need to make sure that once we start this, we won’t be interrupted.”

“That is going to be difficult. Selene warned us that we had to get out of here before the Eden Project started, not to mention we’ve taken out four of their Carnivores. They are going to be looking for us, we might need to postpone this until we can get Ben back to the Shallow Bay. I am not keen on running around hauling a blind person with me, but it might be our only option at this point.”

Shaking his head, Thomas took the visor back from Brock. “I don’t think that we have an option here. Problem number two is that because of the huge energy consumption from the electronic pulses used to heal the body, in this mode, the visor has a battery life of about 30 minutes. After that, it goes dark and is useless. There is a way to prolong it, but that would take hours of coding as well, and we don’t have that kind of time available.” He shoved the device into a small pocket at his waist, tucking it safely away. “We get one shot at getting Ben’s eyesight restored. That’s it. We’ve got to take it. ”

“Then let’s go, I don’t want to waste any more time here. We got what we came for, let’s go.” Slinging his backpack onto his shoulder, Brock clicked onto the mini map on his wrist and zoomed in on it, plotting a path to the South block where Selene suggested that they go look. “We can’t take the ventilation shaft anymore; it doesn’t extend into that section of the base. The only option we have is going out there and avoiding confrontation as much as we can.”

Moving up behind Brock, Thomas armed his gun and nodded. “If Selene could move around out there unnoticed then we can to. Lead the way, Brock. I’ll follow you.”

Stepping forward, Brock took point, heading out the door and then hesitated, turning around and gazing at Thomas for a moment. Before we head out there, I need to know that I can count on you to back me up if needed. If we run into this Burnley character, I want to be absolutely sure that you will do the right thing. There can be no doubt at all.

Thomas took a long breath, filling his lungs with air before he spoke. Lifting his head up, he gave Brock a confident look. “I don't know who this Burnley kid is. I only know Benjamin. Selene could have been lying to us about Ben having a son. I honestly don't see it, and I won't believe it until I have to be face to face with him, and I really hope it never comes to that. Don't worry Brock. I've got you covered.”

Together, the two men headed out from the Oculus terminal room and into the dark hall beyond. It was dark and surprisingly empty. With quiet steps, they proceeded down corridor after corridor, ducking into empty rooms and staying in the shadows as an occasional Carnivore would happen to pass by. Brock looked out from their hiding spot to watch as one of the black cloaked figures shuffled by, it’s mind set intently upon it’s task and not paying much attention to anything else. He thought it odd that the creatures that supposedly could track their prey by smell, were totally oblivious to the two of them hiding just feet away in an alcove. Turning to Thomas, he whispered. “Does something seem wrong here? These things should be all over us by now, and they are walking by like we don’t even exist. I don’t like it.”

Thomas frowned. “I agree. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that we were walking straight into a trap.”

Glancing at his wrist, Brock could see that the South block was just a few feet away from their current position. He pulled out his laptop and brought up the program that would allow them access to any electronic door, they were close now. “Even if it is a trap, I don’t see any other alternative, do you?” he asked Thomas.

“Absolutely none.” Thomas answered and brought his weapon up. “Let’s go.” With a sudden burst of speed, as the Carnivore walked by and cleared the path, Thomas darted out and sprinted down the corridor, running as fast as his legs could carry him. Coming to a stop in front of the door with a flashing red light and a sophisticated lock, he motioned for Brock to follow. Keeping a watchful eye down the hall, Thomas covered Brock’s every move, weapon drawn, ready to fire at the first thing that moved. As Brock joined him at his side, he flashed him a relieved smile as he sprang into action decoding the lock on the door.

Within minutes, the light above the door turned green and it clicked open. Both men rushed inside, as the door shut behind them, echoing louder than a stone being drawn over a cement tomb. Gazing down the insanely long corridor filled with doors, Thomas’s jaw dropped and his heart sank. There before him, stretching on as far as the eye could see where a multitude of cells, each one blinking with the same electronic lock that was on the outside door. There were no distinguishing marks on any of them, no way of knowing who the helpless prisoner was on the other side. “Oh my God. How are we ever going to find him? There must be hundreds of cells in here. It’s going to take forever to run the codes through the computer to open each door. We’re running out of time.”

Looking down the hallway that seemed to stretch on forever, Brock examined a few of the doors. They were several inches thick, made of the strongest steel that could ever be manufactured, secured with large, thick bolts which ran from floor to ceiling. Looking down at the bottom of some of the doors, he could see thick dark marks which ran from the outside of the hall into the room itself, and then stopped abruptly. Whatever had made those gashes in concrete was still safely locked away in there, or so he hoped. Brock placed his hand on one of the doors, running his fingertips over the cool metal. “We can’t do a system wide black out, that would give away our location in an instant, not to mention create mass confusion and danger once all these doors are open.”

“Ah! Fuck!” Thomas shouted. “We’re so damn close.” He looked at Brock desperately. “I’m all out of answers. “What do we do?” Almost as if in answer to his question, there was a loud click at the end of the hallway, and Thomas drew his weapon instantly, taking an offensive stance. Putting his fingers to his lips, he started to walk down into the darkness, motioning for Brock to follow as he tried to locate the source of the sound. As he walked further and further down the hall, the overhead motion lights turned on one at a time, flooding the area with a massive, bright white light that left them momentarily blinded. Several feet away, he spotted one of the massive steel doors looming slightly open only about an inch or so and looked to Brock nervously who shook his head and gave Thomas a look of warning. Disregarding caution, he stepped forward and put his hand on the door, pushing it open a few more inches to peer inside, he could see nothing but darkness. Brock came around behind him, watching up and down the hallway for any signs of the Carnivores and peered into the cell.

“There’s nothing in there, come on, let’s move on. I don’t like this.” He said, gripping the straps of his backpack tightly.

Thomas didn’t move. “No, wait. Did you hear that?” He motioned for Brock to come closer and as he did, he could just barely make out the sound of someone in the far end of the room breathing, hiding in the shadows. “Someone is in there.”

“It’s probably someone that we don’t want to mess with! Come on Thomas we need to move. This is either some sort of psycho hiding in the corner waiting to jump us, or it’s a trap to lure us inside, neither one I want to screw around with, let’s go!” Brock put a hand on his shoulder and Thomas batted it off angrily.

“How would you like it if that was you stuck there in the darkness, afraid and alone?” Thomas pointed into the room. “I am going in there, stay out here if you like. Someone opened this door for a reason and I want to find out why.” Without another word, Thomas entered the darkened cell, pausing a few feet from the entrance, waiting for the lights to kick on. Nothing. The cell remained dark. Pulling out a small light from his pocket, Thomas clicked it on, trying his best not to drop it with his trembling hands. Stepping forward, he made it to the back of the cell and spotted the shape of a body crumpled up in the corner, head down and unresponsive to the light. “Hello? Hey, can you hear me?” He called out, but there was no answer.

Standing the between the cell and the hallway, Brock shifted from foot to foot nervously. “Thomas, come on, I don't like this. Let's go.”

“Just wait!” Thomas yelled back, scolding Brock. Bending down, he knelt in front of the man and brought his light up, illuminating his face. “Jesus Christ!”

Hearing the tone in Thomas's voice, Brock left his position out in the hall way and ran inside to his side. The moment his body cleared the cell door, it slid shut with a loud thud, followed by the unmistakable sound of the large bolt lock being set in, sealing them into the pitch black room. Quickly turning around, Brock pounded on the thick sheet of steel, trying his best to pry it open again, but it wouldn't budge. They were all prisoners now. Sighing, Brock shook his head. “I knew that this was a god dam trap.” Making his way over to where Thomas was kneeling, he sat down beside him, looking at the disheveled man laying in the corner and let out a startled cry. They had found Ben.

Still dressed in his familiar black clothes, they hung off his body like old musty rags, revealing pale skin underneath, stretched tight over protruding bones. It was obvious that he was being starved to death. Thomas reached out and slid two fingers underneath Ben's chin, lifting his head up slightly and then turning away in disgust. The places where his eyes had been were festering, rotting black holes of infection, oozing a foul smelling pus that was unbearable. On his temples where the wires from the visor had bored holes into his skull and left lacerations had only partially healed, leaving horrendous swollen streaks of pink flesh on either side. Feeling Thomas touch him, Ben parted his lips and swallowed hard, trying to speak, but no words would come from his parched throat. “Ben. Please don't try to talk. Relax. We're going to take care of you.” Brock reached into his backpack and handed Thomas a bottle of water, but Ben was too weak to hold it himself, so Thomas leaned forward and helped him drink it. As the first bit of liquid ran down his throat, Ben coughed, spewing the water back into Thomas face, but not willing to give up, he coaxed Ben to try again and finally he was able to drink.

“Thomas? Is that you?” Ben asked weakly, leaning his head back against the wall.

“Yes. It's me Ben. Brock is here with me. We're going to take care of you alright?”

Brock tapped Thomas on the shoulder. “The visor only has 30 minutes of battery life remaining, we don't have time for subtleties. Look at him, the infection has spread into the bloodstream. We need every single minute of juice that thing has to heal him. Get it on him right now. You can talk later.”

“I know!” Thomas shot Brock a angry glance and then pulled the visor out of his pocket, sitting it down onto the floor next to him. “Ben listen to me, you're not well, I can save you but you have to trust me.” He picked up one of Ben's hands and held it in his.

“.... how?” Benjamin whispered. Behind Thomas, Brock began to pace.

“The visor. It's been reformatted to do what it was originally intended for. It won't harm you, Ben. I am going to put it on you and you will start to feel sleepy. I want you to close your eyes and relax. Don't fight it. When you wake up, all your pain will be gone and you will be able to see again.”

Ben moved slightly, trying his best to back further into the corner of the room, desperately wanting to get as far away from Thomas as he could a look of panic on his face. “... no... keep it away... I'd rather die.”

“I knew this was going to happen, Thomas. He obviously doesn't trust you and that damned thing.” Brock said flatly.

Not paying attention to Brock, Thomas pleaded with Ben. “Ben I know that I've done some really bad things, but that wasn't me! I made a mistake. I should of never put the damn thing on in the first place. If I hadn't done that... you wouldn't be here. I am asking, pleading, begging with you. Let me put this on you, we don't have much time left before the device becomes useless. Brock is here with me, he helped me reprogram it so that it's safe. Please Ben. I don't want to lose you. You are going to die if we don't do this.”

Stretching his arms out, he tried to push Thomas away, but only found empty air. “No... let me die then... I can't... not that.. not.. again.”

“I've had enough of this!” Brock said, and with one fluid motion, he stepped forward and picked up the visor, switching it on with his thumb and slid it over the rotting flesh that once covered Ben's eyes, hitting the activation button without hesitation.

Seeing what he was doing, Thomas shouted and tried to push Brock away, but it was too late. “No!” Ben screamed out in horror, the sensors immediately sending the microscopic needles into the already damaged flesh of his temples. A stream of blood began to trickle down his face as they pierced his skull and the fiber optic cables inserted themselves through skin and bone, directly into the soft tissue of his brain. Ben's body instantly went limp, and Thomas caught him in his and then gently laid him down onto the floor and scowled at Brock. Making Ben as comfortable as possible, he turned around and snarled at Brock. “What the fuck was that? You forced that thing onto him. I was trying to prepare him for it. You had no right!”

“I have EVERY right!” Brock snapped back at him. “The last time you put one of those things on him, you were dead set on brainwashing him and making him into the F.E.C.’s bitch. There is no way in hell that he was going to let you put it on him again, reprogrammed or not, the last memory he has of you is you betraying him. Think about it!” Stopping for a second, Brock forced himself to calm down a bit. Anger wasn’t in character for him, but the stress and seriousness of the situation that they were in was starting to get to him. “Have you forgotten that we're not here for just Ben? The Eden Project can start at any moment and we don't know where Dustin is, and now we're locked in this cell. You're not thinking clearly anymore, Thomas. I promised that I would help you, and I've done just that. Now you need to help me and think of a way out of here and to Dustin.” Brock pointed at Benjamin. “There's nothing you can do for him right now anyway. Either the visor will work or it won’t. There is no use in worrying about something you can’t change now.” He took off his wrist device and handed it to Thomas. “I suggest that you spend the next 30 minutes looking over that map and getting ready to leave, with or without Ben. You want people to trust you Thomas, well now is your chance. Step up and act like a man.” Turning away, Brock grabbed hold of his backpack and slid his laptop out, booting it up and glancing at the thick steel door in front of him. He was done dealing with Thomas, at least for now. He didn't know how he was going to be able to get them out of the sealed off cell, but nothing would stop him from trying. The responsibility of getting everyone out safely now fell heavily on his shoulders, crushing him with it’s weight. Brock didn’t know if he would be able to save everyone. Not now. It was an almost impossible task. Sitting down on the concrete floor, he began to type.

Thomas stood over Ben, holding Brock's Comm device in his hand, staring at it blankly and feeling bad for snapping at Brock. Brock was right, Thomas had been asking for people to trust him again since he had recovered from the effects of the visor and now when he had to chance to make things right, he was fucking them up. Following Brock's lead, he sat down on the floor, with his back propped up against the wall and gently lifted up Ben's back, slipping underneath so that his head was resting on his lap. Looking down, he could see the visor pulsing blue as it scanned his body from head to foot, looking for injuries. He wondered what Ben was experiencing now, in his medically induced sleep like state. The previous versions of the visor would allow the F.E.C. to twist and distort the patients dreams into nightmares, and now with the default setting restored, Thomas could only hope and pray that Ben's memories were good ones. Sighing to himself, he glanced over to Brock who was huddled over his laptop, working silently and diligently. He wanted to talk to him, to apologize for everything but something in the back of his head told him that silence now was the best option. Punching a few buttons on the comm device, Thomas started to scroll through an endless array of maps and blueprints, hoping that he could find a way to escape from here, and never look back.

The minutes ticked by like hours as Brock worked on his laptop, scouring through a vast array of downloaded blueprints and bits of computer codes that he could potentially hack into the get the door open, while Thomas scrolled through the various maps of the base, hoping to locate the most convenient exit for them. After a while, he sighed to himself and put the Comm device down, bringing his attention back to Ben. His skin was starting to pick up color, and his breathing was stronger now as the device worked on his injured body. The horrible gouges over his eyes were now healing with fresh new skin covering the area where the damage had been done. Thomas glanced down at the display on the visor, and frowned. It only had about 8% battery life left and Benjamin wasn’t conscious yet. He was worried that the program wouldn’t fully complete before it completely depleted all the power source, leaving Ben in a worse state that they had found him in. Thomas looked up, suddenly aware that the sound of Brock typing from across the room had stopped. He had pushed the laptop aside and came to sit next to Thomas on the floor, leaning his back up against the wall. “How is he?” Brock asked.

“It looks like almost all trace of the sepsis is gone, and his eyesight could possibly be restored, all the wounds are fully healed, but we won’t know the extent of it until he wakes up.” Thomas looked down at Ben, and lightly rested a hand on his chest, feeling the strong intake of breath fill his lungs with every steady heart beat. “The visor is dangerously low on power, and the program isn’t done running. If it ends in mid-cycle, chances are that he won’t ever wake up and will be in a coma forever.”

Brock stretched his legs out in front of him. “Listen, Thomas, I am sorry I snapped at you, and I want to tell you that I’ve been wrong about you.”

“What do you mean?” Thomas asked.

“All this time, I’ve been telling myself that since you have been freed from the effects of the visor, you’ve been confused, muddled and unable to control your emotions. I’ve seen a change in you and blamed it on the side-effects, thinking that it’s going to get worse. I was wrong.” Brock brought his knees up to his chest and rested his elbows on them. “You’re not getting worse, you’re getting better. I know now that for the first time I am seeing the real Thomas Bell, the one that existed before any of this started, the leader of the Messengers and the one that Benjamin fell in love with. I apologize for doubting you, or making you feel bad about your actions. Being in this situation is so overwhelming and frightening, all I want is to go home and I don’t think that will ever be possible again.”

Thomas sat silently, gently stroking his fingers across Ben’s chest, lost in thought. “Brock, are you really going to leave Dustin?” he asked, completely catching Brock off guard with his question.

“I don’t know.”

Suddenly, the visor began to emit a high pitched series of beeps. Looking down, Thomas saw the battery icon flash on the screen and Ben’s body began to seize, shaking uncontrollably. “FUCK!” he shouted, slipping out from underneath him and laying his body fully down onto the floor, straddling him and grabbing his shoulders, trying to steady the large man’s uncontrollable spasms as best as he could. “Brock, grab his legs and hold him down, he’s having a seizure. The shutdown part of the program must have not been long enough.”

Moving into position, Brock grabbed Ben’s ankles and wrapped his hands around them, putting his full weight into it, trying his best to stop him from hurting himself. He pitched and shifted underneath them, as the violent spasms shot through his body, slamming his back up and down against the concrete floor with extreme force. After several minutes, the blue glow of the visor faded away to nothing, turning black and Ben’s body slammed back down onto the floor. Thomas reached out and gently lifted the device off his eyes, tossing it aside and pressed two fingers into his neck, feeling for a pulse. Brock loosened his grip and sat back, trying to catch his breath. “Is he dead?”

Moving his fingers away from Ben’s neck, Thomas shook his head and collapsed onto his chest, crying softly. Brock lowered his head and fell back against the wall, a feeling of numbness spreading over him. Everything that they had fought for, was all gone now. They had failed. This wasn’t supposed to happen; Ben wasn’t supposed to die again. He resigned himself to be the one to tell Dustin. It wasn’t going to be a easy task, but he had to be the person to do it. He would hold onto his hand and gently break the news to him, never leaving his side until the pain subsided. Brock knew that he could never leave Dustin now, he’d need someone to cling to, to depend on, and to tell him that everything was going to be okay. It was something that they would have to face together. Standing up, Brock stood over Thomas, who was still clinging to Ben’s body, holding on tightly with a look of sorrow and sadness on his face. Words eluded him, he didn’t know what to say to make him feel better. Thomas worked so hard to get Ben back, and now he lost him all over again.

A movement caught Brock’s eye and his eyes went from Thomas down to Ben. His arms moved. Thinking he was seeing things, Brock knelt down to get a better look and Ben reached up, circling around Thomas’s body and pulling it close to him, holding him in a tight embrace against his chest. Thomas melted into those arms and whimpered slightly. Ben opened his eyes and looked directly at Brock. Brock quickly turned away, unable to control his emotions, to face the door. With a low voice that was strong and familiar, Ben spoke out loud. “Where are we?”

Pulling himself into a sitting position, Thomas slid off Ben and sat next to him, wiping his eyes free of moisture. “We are in one of the main F.E.C. bases, they brought you here after they attacked the Messengers and have been keeping you prisoner for weeks. We lost the base.” Thomas sighed. “It was all my fault. I started all of this, I should of never been messing around with that visor to begin with. You can hate me if you want, but please understand that what I did, I did because I love you, and thought that if I could find a way to use it for good, that it might impress you. I know it’s silly and all, but I was in love and so desperate for just a moment of your time. You mean everything to me, and it’s taken me so long to admit it and say it out loud, but I do fucking love you. I always have and I always will.”

Ben sat up, blinking a few times to focus his eyes and then looked over at Thomas, setting his beautiful gray-green eyes on him intently. “We all make mistakes, Thomas especially when it comes to love. I am not going to hate you for what you’ve done, or hold any of those actions against you, simply because when I look into your eyes now, I don’t see that man anymore. I see a soul that is filled to the rim with remorse who is desperately trying to make things right. Everyone needs a second chance. I am willing to give that to you, if you promise me that you will try to leave all of that behind. Show me the person that you once were, the man that stood at my side as leader of the Messengers and help me to bring them all back. Can you do that?” he asked.

Thomas shook his head. “I promise.” He leaned his body forward, bringing his face close to Ben’s, his lips hungry for a kiss.

A loud crash of glass shattering drew them apart. Startled, Thomas looked up and saw that Brock had picked up the dead visor and threw it against the wall, shattering it into a hundred pieces. Slowly turning around, he looked at Thomas and Ben coldly. “We’re done messing with those things.”

Slowly bringing himself to his feet, Ben stood up, with Thomas at his side helping to steady him and walked over to Brock, giving him a stiff pat on the shoulder that was almost enough to knock him over. “Thank you Brock, for all that you’ve done so far, and for helping Thomas. You’ve put yourself in danger to rescue me, and for that I owe you my life.” He flashed Brock a simple, heartfelt smile and Brock smiled back, feeling a bit uncomfortable and suddenly very awkward. “You are more than just my friend, I feel that through everything we’ve shared, that you are more than that… you are family to me.”

“Uh.. yeah Ben, If you say so.” Brock bent down and picked up his laptop, and trying to change the topic of conversation. “So as it is, we’re stuck here in this cell without a way out, and all Hell is about to break loose. We’ve got to get a move on if we’re going to get out of here and find Dustin before it all starts. I’ve been trying to get into their remote computer signals for sometime now and I think that I may have found a way to actually get into the programming of one of the Carnivores brains and command him to come release the door to the cell.”

“How are you able to do that?” Thomas asked curiously. “I’ve never heard of technology that exists that can do that.”

Pointing to the lap top screen and a list of files displayed on the desktop, Thomas pointed at a folder named ‘Prox:Transmissions’. “The basics for essentially hi-jacking a brain for a brief amount of time are all listed in here, located on the F.E.C. satellite computer system. It seems like they’ve only used it a very few times in the past, because it only allows the user to take over a body for a short amount of time, say….10 minutes tops and that’s it. I don’t know how or where they acquired this information from, but it was not useful to them so they abandoned it after one or two trials. I guess that they got what they want and then moved on to other things.”

Thomas smiled brightly. Finally things were starting to look up. “So we can use the Carnivore to open the door? That’s pretty awesome, you’re brilliant, Brock.”

Blushing, Brock spun the laptop back around and started typing. “But that’s not the best of it. If I can locate a Carnivore that is near us, it can free us and then I can command it to take us to the last known location of where Dustin has been.”

“How would it know that?” Thomas asked.

“Whatever the Eden Project is, Dustin is going to be a part of it, which is why we must hurry. They’ve branded every experimental subject used in the project with a number and tracking code, and then uploaded it to the central server. The Carnivore can track that number’s location with its GPS and take us right to him, if we’re fast. Like I said, we only have ten minutes to get Dustin back before I lose the signal completely and we’re face to face with a very angry Carnivore.” Brock glanced up at Ben, who was uncharacteristically quiet. “Ben, are you okay with all of this?” Brock asked. He had never known Ben to be the silent type, and something seemed off about him.

With a furrowed brow, Ben looked to Brock , slightly confused. “Who is Dustin?”

Thomas and Brock exchanged startled glances. Thomas came to stand in front of Ben, just slightly to the side of where Brock was standing. “Dustin Bates? The man that you spent months looking for here on Prox? The one that you sent me out to retrieve from the F.E.C. base?” Thomas shook his head. “You can’t tell me that you don’t remember him, not at all?” He asked.

“No.” Ben brought his hand up to his forehead. “I don’t have any memories of this person or know who he is, I am not fucking with you, it’s a blank. I can remember you, Thomas, and you as well Brock, but Dustin is a stranger to me.”

“This has to be some sort of joke, how can you not remember the person that you—“

“STOP!” Thomas cut Brock off. “If he says he doesn’t remember him, then he doesn’t. Don’t go putting unnecessary memories in there where they aren’t needed. If he’s going to remember then let him do it on his own.” Thomas took a moment to try and stop the situation from escalating, but he had a feeling that things were going to get much worse. “Think this out logically. There must have been a problem with the coding on the visor that wiped out a few select memories.”

Brock threw his laptop down onto the ground and walked up closer to Thomas. “All I did was get you into the root system, YOU did all the programming! So don’t go placing blame where there isn’t any. God damn you Thomas, I can’t fucking trust you at all can I? ”

“I didn’t do shit! We both had access to that visor’s programming control, so don’t go blaming me for writing faulty coding that could mess with a person’s head, and I didn’t do it on purpose either. It’s pretty damn low for you to place blame on me for something that you did, Brock. I thought that you were a better person than this. No wonder why you fit in so well with the F.E.C., you’re messed up in the just as much as they are, downright cold hearted and vicious. Do you enjoy pulling people apart? Now I can clearly see why Dustin turned his back on you and was screwing Ben instead.”

Brock jammed his finger into Thomas’s chest. “I’ll give you one minute to take those words back, Thomas or else I am going to make you regret saying them.”

Thomas took a step forward, getting right into Brock’s face and challenging him. “ I don’t back down from my problems, I face them head on, unlike you. What are you going to do now Brock hmm? All of your deception and lies have been revealed, your true colors exposed and you have no where to run to. Go ahead, turn away from me, I dare you, it will just prove my point of how low you’re willing to stoop to get what you want. Greedy bastard.”

His eyes flashing with anger, Brock lunged forward and sprung after Thomas, knocking him to the ground and jumping on top of him. His fist connected with his face once, and then before he knew it, Benjamin stepped forward and grabbed Brock by the shoulder and tossing him backwards where he fell down to the floor in a heap. Seeing his opportunity Thomas scrambled to his feet and grabbed Brock by the shirt pulling him up and slamming him against the wall. Benjamin shouted, “STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU.” Moving forward, he positioned himself in-between the two men and forced them apart, giving Thomas a shove towards the opposite corner and putting his hand on Brock’s chest so that he couldn’t move forward. “You two need to knock it the fuck off!”

Wiping a bit of blood away from the corner of his eyebrow where Brock’s blow hand landed, Thomas glared from across the room. “I am not going to stand by and let him throw accusations at me! For fuck’s sake Ben, he messed with your head, are you going to let him get away with that. He can..”

“Thomas, shut the fuck up for a minute will you?” Ben said. Glancing over to Brock, Ben looked him directly in the eyes. “Are you cool now? No more bullshit?” he asked him. Brock nodded silently and Ben let go of his shirt, then went over to where his laptop had fallen and picked it up, remaining silent. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but it seems to me like you both are acting like fucking children here and this is not the time or place for it. We’re in danger and you’re both ready to rip each others throats out here. If you’re so adamant about killing one another, why don’t you both step outside and get it over with. Those Carnivores are more than willing to help you with that!” Ben took a long, deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “Now, just to clarify… no I can’t remember Dustin Bates, okay? In my mind, it feels like he was never a part of my life or never existed.” Thomas let out an amused chuckle from his corner of the room, but was quickly silenced by a piercing stare down from Ben. “You two are blaming each other for doing this, but you both could be wrong. Some of the first Intel we got back from when the F.E.C. started using the bloody visors was that there was sometimes a side-effect of temporary memory loss. So, until either it wears off and I can remember this person, or you show me 100% proof that one of you erased these memories, I don’t want to hear a word about it. We’ve got more pressing problems like getting out of this cell. Understand?”

Slowly, Thomas stood up and nodded. “Yes.”

Ben looked over to Brock, who had a sullen, defeated look on his face waiting for an answer. Sighing, Brock nodded. “Sure.”

“Alright then.” Ben walked over to Brock and glanced at the screen of the laptop. “Are you ready to hack into the Carnivore, everything good to go? We get that thing to open the door and then follow it to Dustin Bates, and then we all get the fuck out of here as fast as we can. Understood?”

“Yes.” Brock answered.

Smiling, Ben gave Brock a pat on the back “Whenever you’re ready.”

Brock loaded the program to hack into the Carnivore, his eyes focused and trained on the screen as the lines of coding started to spill down over the monitor. Soon a small box popped up and flashed a green ready light. All he would have to do is hit the button. He looked over to Benjamin for a moment. “I didn’t tell you that there is one other slight risk with this program. If it doesn’t work, then instead of the Carnivore being under our control, it will summon him right to the door here an he will rip us apart the moment he opens it. Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.

“There are some risks in life worth taking.” Ben answered calmly. “Do it.”

With slightly shaking fingers, Brock hovered his index finger over the enter key for a moment and then suddenly the dim light in the room changed to a bright red, and a loud, raucous wailing siren sounded out over the loudspeaker system. “ATTENTION PLEASE, THE EDEN PROJECT IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. PLEASE PROCEED TO YOUR DESIGNATED STATIONS. COUNTDOWN WILL BEGIN IN 10 MINUTES.”

Thomas’s jaw dropped open and he looked in panic to Ben and Brock. “Oh my God.”


End file.
